Postings by Salsa - memorial page

There are a lot of options for home cooked meals instead of premade "veterinary diets" if this is what your dog is used to. Plus if her kidneys are throwing her appetite off it will be that much harder for her to accept the new kibble.

This page has TONS of information, it is geared toward diets for dogs with kidney disease. And if lowering sodium and phosphorus are the main goals with the diet the vet prescribed, it should be very easy to come up with a solution that works for both of you. It is a very long page with lots of links to other sources and research and support groups. I hope it helps!

I believe it was mostly the fluids that helped Salsa live longer and feel better. I would definitely look into doing the fluids, most people can do this at home.

I also used Azodyl, I am not sure it helped in our case but hers was a juvenile kidney problem so it got rapidly worse as she reached adult size. I used a different phosphate binder which had been recommended on that kidney yahoo group. It was a powdered substance and was much cheaper than buying it at the pharmacy. She was also on Pepcid and a couple other meds as she developed ulcers and high blood pressure. My vet was very flexible and would try stuff if I approached him with treatment options.

I would also research better kidney diets, because you can do better than the Hills K/d. In our case I had to stop worrying over her diet though because she mostly would not eat. Or she would have pica and try to eat rocks and dirt. Or she would eat only shredded wheat cereal for a week.

I hope you find the support and knowledge you need. Be aggressive with this, you can really buy a lot of time.

I am so sorry for your loss. I am glad to hear she left on her own, at her own home. It doesn't sound to me like you waited too long..I know its easy to second guess and guilt yourself over this, but there is really only one outcome in life. You did all you could to keep your friend comfortable, even making the hardest decision of all.

Salsa and her sister Annabelle are angels at the bridge, both lost to juvenille renal dysplasia. I am sure they welcomed your angel.

I am so sorry for your loss.. Smokey sounds like an amazing little dog and I know he knew you loved him dearly.

The vet was way wrong to euthanize that way. I worked at a vets office and we always sedated first. One time there was a fill-in vet and he tried it without sedation.. I was so unhappy as was the owner. It shouldn't be that way.

On the other hand, my "heartdog" Salsa cried like a baby with the needle that sedated her, so again, the last moment she was aware of was the pain and stress of being poked with a needle. I comfort myself by knowing it was the last time she ever had to feel pain, and that it was a small hurt.

Time, lots of time helps. You never forget but you learn to breathe and think and live again eventually. But even 2 years later, I cant write about Salsa without tears. I miss her so.

I spent over a year keeping Salsa alive and as happy as possible after she was diagnosed with kidney failure ( juvenille renal dysplasia) with absolutely NO chance for her to recover.

I was unable to do her fluid treatments at home so I drove her to the vets every 3 days, then every other day, then every day for the last few months. I spent my spare hours researching meds, diets etc. She was on so many meds I had to get one of those pill dispensers your great grandma might have for morning, noon, afternoon and night meds. She had blood pressure meds, meds to bind the toxins, meds to soothe her digestive tract, meds for pain, meds I have forgotten.

I kept her in a pen with newspapers in my kitchen when I had to work because she could not hold her urine and I cleaned that up off my kitchen floor every day for a year, along with vomit and diarrhea when she was having a worse day.

And then came the week that she did not want to go to the vets. She had to be coaxed, and then carried out back, instead of trotting along with the tech. That was the last time she got fluids. By this time, she had stopped eating entirely.

The next day, I brought her in and we all said goodbye. the techs and the vet and the receptionists cried with me. I am crying just typing this now.. an d it was 2 years ago. I will never be OK again. But I did the right thing for her. My baby was ready to go to the bridge, and I had to help her. I will always know I did everything I could for Salsa including the hardest thing of all.

Euthanasia didnt replace care, it was simply the last step in her healthcare.

When my dog was dying of kidney failure, one of the few things she would eat in the last month was bread. Not a good diet.. but I was keeping her alive with fluids, tons of medications etc, so figured she was dying anyhow, it would be more comfortable if she would eat something. The month before she craved wheat thins. Poor baby.

My dogs get a bit of bread now and then but not as a regular supplement. None seem to have problems with wheat.